Nintendo this week announced "Game-key cards" for the Switch 2, which are described as "different" from regular game cards as they don't contain the "full game data" and are instead used as a "key" to download the title onto your system via the internet.

Nintendo confirms that some Switch 2 games will only contain a download key It explains that games with Game-Key Cards don't feature the full game data Players will require an internet connection when first inserting a Game-Key Card Following the full reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2,

Some Switch 2 games will be on Game-Key Cards, which don’t come with an actual game on it: > Instead, the game-key card is your ‘key’ to downloading the full game to your system via the internet. After it’s downloaded,